Moving floor for vehicles



m2121948. s. w. WALKER 2,447,220

MOVING FLOOR FOR VEHICLES Aug. 17, 1948. s. w. WALKER MOVING FLOOR FORVEHICLES Filed Oct. 15 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet s. w. WALKER 'MOVING FLOORFOR VEHICLES 3 'Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 17, 194s.

Filed Oct.

Patented Aug. 17, 1948 `Stanley Wood Walker, Workington, England, as"signor of one-half to Allan Maclachlan,Wol-.

verhampton, England n Application October y13, 1945, Serial No. 622,230In Great Britain October 31, 1944 V1 claim. (c1. 214-8336) 'Thisinvention relates to a moving floor or support for road or rail vehiclesor the liketo facilitate loading or unloading from one'end or side, andit hasrfor its object an'improved con-l struction. Y

According to the present invention, a moving floor for a vehiclecomprises a exible band or belt forming the floor surface, a rollersupport mounted on the frame of the vehicle at each end of the oor andaround which the ends of the flexible band passes, an operating memberrotatably mounted on the saidV frame intermediate the saidV rollers, anda flexible tension device con-V necting the ends of the band and coiledaround the operating member so that when such operating member isrotated the flexible tension device is coiled thereon to pull one endofthe band towards the operating member and uncoiled therefrom to permitof movement of the other end of the band. The flexible tension devicepasses in each direction from the operating drum and around a rollerunit forconnection to the end' of the iiexible band wrapped around theother roller unit. The tension device conveniently comprises a ropeorlike flexible member connected at each endto the flexible band andcoiledvintermediate each end on the operating` member which may be inthe form of a drum or' cylinder. The drum or cylinder may havea helicalgroove therein in which the rope or theV like is coiled. The rope onthelike may be in two sections connected at theirfouter ends to therespective ends ofthe flexible band, Whilst the inner ends are coiled onthe operating member and anchored thereto by means of anadjustable'tensioning device. TheV operating drum may Vbe axiallymovable, and conveniently the spindle of the operating drum is screwthreadedrand engaged inra screw threaded nut or bearing, Aor again thehelical groove in the operating drum Ymay be engaged byroller or rollersfixed against axial movement. The rollers at each end of the Viloor maybe formed of al plurality of axially arranged rollers independentlymounted on a spindle and between which a pulley is arrangedV for'receiving the rope connected to an end of the flexible band.

Referring to the drawings which showembodiments'of the invention: Y

FigureA 1y is a plan view of a moving floor constructed according vtothe invention, the idler rollers supporting the straight run of the beltorband being omitted for convenience of illus' tration. l

'Figure 2 is a section on line II-IIof Figure 1. Figure 3 is an endview. f

Figure 4 is a plan view of a door. l f Figure 5 is an end viewofV anloperating .um showing means for obtainingen'dvvis movement thereof' j .fW-

"Y 'li; fygrf -Figure 6 is a plan view-of a modiiledrformlof operatingdrum.' v v. 1

Figure 'lis a plan view of thesupporting drum unit detached, and.l

Figure 8 shows a modiiiedforrn of operatngfthe' tension rope. YAccording to a convenient embodiment-'of thisV invention, thewho-le of amoving floor of araily or road vehicle comprises a nexible Vbelt-or.bandL also operatedby-thedrum ,6 by means of flexiblev steelwirelropes1 or flexible metallic tapeslorzthei like (hereinireferred to Vas.ropes).= "Inrthe-,forrn shown by Figures zlf'and 2, .the rope] isformedl in two sections la andlb and theiriinner endsare anchored totheoperating drum and each rope is coiled on the'druminioppositerdirectionsto"' wards one another.y Ther rope 'la leaving thefdrum E and passinground `a pulley on the roller sup.

port unit a, vis connected at-I to the-'endzoffthe flexible band lpassing-round the roller support unit b w The rope section 'lbleavesxthe operatingv drum 'and :passes round a pulleyzlv ofthe roller;

support unit b and isconnected to the endllaioff the eXible-'band Ipassing round theroller sup-r port Yunit a: When therefore-theoperating-drum is rotated clockwise the rope section-1a -will applyapull' at the end Ill' of the flexible bandfwhilst the rope section 1bwill vuncoil fromthe drum f6. so' that the Vend Illa of the vflexibleband can'move'; accordingly by the pull-transmitted :throughftheAropesection'lc'. When the drum is rotated anti-12 clockwise the p ullfisthroughv the rope'sectionf,.1b; The rope sections 1a; and 1bconstantlymaintain tension tending tonpull/the ends Ill/andv Illa-to-Vgether to maintain the bandl in'constant tension: The length .of ropecoiled.` ony thedrum- 6.. serves to restrict theilength of rtravel -ofthe belt. I; *The druml conveniently has helical Ygrooves Gatheref inforreceiving the coils of Vthe ropes andv there-'1 the spindle 9 carryingthe operating drum andi.

such spindle engages an internally screwedbearing 9a fixed in relationto the frame 4. The screw thread on the spindle is of the same-pitch asa helical groove '6a and therefore'whenthef:roller:or drum 6 is turnedit will be moved axially. According to a modified form as shown byFigure 5, rollers I I engaging the groove Ga are mounted on brackets I2which are fixed to a cross member I3 forming part of the frame 4. TheseVrollers which are prevented from having axial movement thus cause;theoperating drum 6 tonmove axially easjitzis:rotated,.the spindle ofthedrum iioatingin` its `zbearirrgs.' The rollers VI I- due totheperipheries contacting the roots of the helical grooves ,Gd-resistanyspring'or strain on` the drum 6 due to pull of the ropes 'la and 1b. Thebelt or band Irisgsupportedxon idler rollers -26 mounted on the frame 4.A taut belt is Vnecessary in order tosecurefease of beltmovement'wh-erethe nature of the load is semi-plastic such as wet sand,clay, ready-'mixed concreteand. the like materialsyfor, isuchallo'adcarried upon a slack belt, festooned oversupportingrollers :2-6,and, accentuated by the :vibration .of :the vehicle .during transit, hassolidi'ed en and .totheconguration of the carryingA beltwresulting. inthe formationof what amountsto a seriesfof 'scotches locking the belt,the. be'ltumay be. damaged in the'subsequent attempt at its movement.

.Withrthe .object of'enabling areduction to be made in: thesweightof thecomponents Yconstituting-this devicewhichaffectsithe tare weight andconsequent. pay vload-of a road vehicle, the drum iisz placedv inthe-approximatemidway position relative 'tothe position .ofpulleys unitsa and b, sothat so ranas the pivotal and bending stress upon-therdrum' 6is concerned, a .major proporu tion of.: the'. rope strain consisting ofconsiderable initial.andconstantxtension (as distinct butin addition.Ito rope .tension fdue 'to tractive effort when thedevice is used) iscan-celled out because the opposing tensions ofthe ropes 'la and 'ib arealmost-.oppositetin direction at the sides of the drum' 6, vthuspermitting al comparatively light constructionvof this part, anytendencytodeflectionof Which'being checked bythe presence of the rollers 1I I.when utilised. In a further form, each ropesectioni-may pass through ahole I4 in the periphery v'ofthe hollow drum 6 and. pass along the.drumrand be anchored to a `tension adjustingzmemberfwhichmay. comprisean eye bolt lI6 which passes. through a hole in the end of the drumfandis locked by means of a nut screwed onl'the .projecting end of the bolt.By adjusting the. eyebolt or` like tensioner therefore, any desireditensionmaybe-.placed on the ropes and thereforeon theconveyor-or floorband I and the bandis .alsocorrectlypositioned.

f Accordingto the'form shown. by'Figure 8, the rope 1,: in4 one piece isconnected to one end of the belt Which:.passes .around the rollersupport unit a; and is'then carried round a pulley tv of the otherrollerssupport bandis then'directedito and coiledon. thezdnum Bc;and.after :being coiled on theidrumjcipassesraround aLpulley Epi; theroller;v

unit a and is connected to the other end of the belt. The rope beingcoiled around the drum 6c will be moved thereby, and when the operatingdrum is rotated, the rope passing from one end of the belt will becoiled thereon and at the same time the rope would be uncoiled from thedrum c to permit the other `end of the belt tozmove and the tension onthe rope 'l will keep the two ends of the belt pulled towards oneanother to keep the belt or band in tension. With the aforementionedconstructions a length of travel can be obtained which is longer thanthe length of the movable floor. Any number of tension members or ropes'I caribeY utilised along the width of the iioor.

The ends of the belt to which the rope is connected may. be strengthenedby being clamped between metal strips l. The grooves in the pulleys 5are of a depth so that the outer periphery of the ropespassingth'erearound does not project beyond the surface of the rollers 2and therefore does not prevent the band 2 freely bedding on the rollersand cbviates any bulging of the belt by riding on therope andv also wearand tear caused by the .and rope'rubbing on one another. As the ropesgrip on the pulley a lesser distance from the axis the surfaces of therollers 2, the speed of rotation of the pulley will Vary from the-speedof `rotation of the rollers 2, but as the pulleys 5 the rollers 2 areindependently and freely mounted on the spindie 3, no friction orslip'will take place. As the rollers 2 and pulleys 5 are freely andindependently mounted on `the spindle 5, they will not impart rigidityto the spindle, and in crd-er to enable a spindle of small Weight to beused, supporting rollers ll and I8 are mounted on brackets I9 xedvto orforming part of across member '25! on the frame 3. rThe rollers I'I and5S are independently mounted and the rollers .I1 bear on the rollers Eand the roller i8 engages the groove in the pulleys 5. rlhese bufferWheels II and l5 counteract any deflection of the shafts 3 due to thecombined imposed forces (A) the initial tension of the belt I created bythe ropes 1, (B) belt tension due to gravity and road shocks when thecarried load seeks to thrust and festoon the belt I downwards betweeneach consecutive idler roller 2% and (C) tension due to the tractiveeffort `of the ropes 'l when the belt I is pulled in either directionduring the loading or unloading process. It will be appreciated thatthis moving ioor permits the use of a belt sufficiently-long in itselfand in its permissible length of transverse A(amount-in to a greaterlength than is the distance between the drum centres a and b) to allowthe use of a iixed wall plate barrier at I3a, and obviates the use of awall place travelling with the moving belt, with its consequent frictionand wedging of the load betweenit and the .Xed sides of the vehiclebody. Vertical conning sides dening the width of the body and conformingto the width to the belt I in use, are connected by the Xed wall platebarrier I3a, forming one body lend, and arranged with its bottom edge toClear the top surface of the belt I to prevent any loaded loosematerials packed against it, from being spilled o the belt l at that4point both prior `to ,and during the preliminary movement of the beltin its discharging direction, and to retain any materials which may tendto slump to their natural angle of repose untilsuiiicient length of belthas movedfthat will convey the whole of the loose materials away fromthe/barrier I3 towards a clean discharge over thefurther end of the bodyfloor at point 25. Thev fully discharged position of themovingrflooris'where and when point IU is situated at a position adjacent to thebaffle board barrier 53a, whilst tlhe opposite extreme of the travel ofthe floor formed by the belt I is when and lwhere the point lila hasbeen wound to a position adjacent to the point 25, this travel thusrepresenting a total movement of the belt formed floor, which indistance is in excess of the measurement between the barrier [3a andt'he discharge point 25 (at which point 25 a removable or swinginghinged tail board may be fitted to the fixed retaining vertical sides ofthe body).

Whilst the roller unit 6 is formed of a plurality of units it may beformed as a single unit as shown by Figul'e 7. The vehicle moving oormay be arranged on the vehicle for either side or end loading. Anti-sagrollers may be tted to prevent the belt or band l fouling the frame ofthe machine.

Having thus described the invention, what i-s claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Let- I ters Patent, is:

6 coiled thereon in opposite directions towards one another and afterleaving the drum pass around one rollerl support unit back to an -end ofthe oor band trained over the other roller support unit, and means formoving the operating drum axially whilst the drum is rbtating tomaintain the location at which the rope leaves the operating drum inalignment with the place of engagement of the rope with the respectiveroller support unit.

STANLEY WOOD WALKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,251,372 Hewitt Dec. 25, 19171,497,622 Weber June 10, 1924 1,626,041 Kyle et al. Apr. 26, 19271,945,532 Lima Feb. 6, 1934 2,264,157 Baker et al Nov. 25, 19412,267,526 Kutscha Dec. 23, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date12,879 Great Britain 1896 351,410 Great Britain June 24, 1931 419,351Great Britain Nov. 9, 1934

